“Focus.” Your parents told you, your coaches told you, and your teachers told you: “You will accomplish more if you focus on one thing at a time.” They knew that trying to do everything at once means doing nothing well.

President Obama should take this truism to heart. It could mean the difference between success and failure for our faltering economy.

That became painfully clear earlier this month when the U.S. Chamber of Commerce pulled together the top chamber leaders from around the nation for a briefing on the Obama Administration, the economy and where we are headed. What we heard was troubling.

In his $3.6 trillion budget for this year, President Obama tackles education, health care reform and global warming – three of our nation’s most expensive and expansive challenges. According to U.S. News and World Report, Obama’s 2010 budget would spend another $3.5 trillion.

The costs could go even higher. President Obama concedes his $634 billion price tag for health care is only a down payment. Administration officials admit the real cost is closer to $1 trillion.

The President wants to spend almost $47 billion to expand student loans and make Pell Grants a permanent entitlement program, on top of an additional $115 billion for education in the stimulus bill. How will graduates pay those loans back if there are no jobs?

To attack global warming, the administration’s cap and trade system would collect $150 billion in fees over the next decade from businesses that exceed government pollution limits. In addition, the President would reinstate taxes on petroleum products and spend $12 billion to subsidize clean energy development.

Clearly, the numbers are staggering and so enormous that they lose all meaning. Consider that one trillion dollar bills laid end to end wouldstretch 48 million miles.

Instead of trying to do everything at once, Mr. Obama should focus on restoring our faltering economy. Once the economy is back on track, we can turn our attention to other priorities.

Draining money from the private sector to fund government programs will only delay our recovery.

· President Obama's budget proposes $989 billion in new taxes over the next 10 years, including more than $350 billion targeted at employers.

· Many of the “rich” targeted by Obama’s higher income taxes are actually small businesses which create most of the jobs in our nation. Officials counter that the tax increases won’t go into effect until 2011. Would you hire more people if you knew your taxes were going up?

· The $150 billion cap and trade fees and higher energy taxes means higher prices for consumers and businesses — costs that will slow the recovery.

· The President’s 2009 budget creates a $1.75 trillion debt — more debt in one year than in all the federal budgets since our nation’s founding. In four years, the annual interest payment along on the national debt will be half a trillion dollars. That crushing debt will be a drag on the U.S. economy for generations.

In the meantime, unemployment is rising, the stock market is wavering, and the government is drowning in red ink. Worst of all, we are starting to lose our confidence in our ability to solve these problems.

But history has shown time and again that the American people have the resolve, strength and innovative spirit to meet any challenge. Today, as always, the heart of our economy is in the small businesses on Main Street and our economic recovery will come from Main Street — not Pennsylvania Avenue.

Instead of trying to accomplish his entire agenda in a single term, President Obama should focus on letting Main Street do what it does best. Instead of burying them under historic debt and tax increases, let entrepreneurs innovate, create jobs and produce the profits that will increase tax revenues to fund government programs.

There is a role for government, but it cannot and must not try to replace the private sector.

When freed from costly government mandates and programs, Main Street has always led our nation back to prosperity. Instead of asking us to trust government to get us out of this mess, President Obama should trust in the spirit and strength of the American people.